There are plenty of ways to freshen up kitchen decor without undertaking an entire remodeling project. Some choose to simply update their faucets with something more modern and functional, while others pick out new curtains or counter tops. Installing new kitchen cabinets is one great update to make, as it can be a solid investment in the future of your home.

It's all in the materials
According to a recent article in Builder Magazine, plywood is a good option to select for cabinet materials because it is sturdy and can keep moisture out. Solid wood kitchen cabinets are ideal, but those on a budget may want to use particle board on the cabinet interiors. This does not diminish the quality, especially when just used inside. However, if you know that you are looking for painted – which can provide a classic look – MDF is the best material to select, the source noted. If you have little ones, consider Thermofoil, which can help protect against scratches and bangs, making your kitchen cabinets stand the test of time.

Changing kitchen cabinets? Think before you remodel.

Think about the style
Kitchen cabinetry comprises a fairly large part of the overall space . Depending upon a home's layout, cabinets may even be visible from the front door. Houzz suggested that before upgrading or changing the kitchen cabinets, homeowners should think about the style or door, in terms of the aesthetic sense they want to portray. For instance, glass cabinet doors can showcase dishware and give a kitchen a more vintage feel, but this may not be ideal for those with older, less attractive dishes, pots and pans. To keep a timeless feel, Shaker-style doors will help ensure that the kitchen looks sophisticated for years to come.

Also, the source added, kitchen cabinets need not just be standard doors and drawers. Consider adding flip-down surfaces for instant extra counter space, a large, deep drawer where a garbage can may fit and sliding doors to enable cabinet access.

Cabinet handles are another consideration and can definitely communicate much about the kitchen. Sleeker, brushed metal handles are more modern than intricate, curved handles,although the latter can be a eye-catching part of a farmhouse-style kitchen. Smaller, less obtrusive knobs or door handles are always a good option as people are less likely to walk into them – and they will be easier to clean. Think about both the appearance and functionality of handles: Something that looks great may not be ideal for a smaller kitchen space, while carved and curving handles can attract dirt.

Homeowners with little floor space may want to consider wall-mounted kitchen cabinets. These can easily be hung above kitchen countertops, and can look elegant, especially when paired with lighting underneath.

To see many ideas for kitchen cabinetry and accompanying fixtures and faucets, visit a kitchen and bath showroom. Here, experts can offer advice, and some spaces allow visitors to see and feel sample kitchen cabinets.

Who's the best person to take a lead on a kitchen remodeling project? No, probably not that cousin who is studying graphic design, or a close friend who took an online interior design course and fancies himself an expert. The person who does the most cooking and baking in the house should be the lead consultant on any upgrades or changes to the kitchen. Some of these can be simple adjustments to make life easier, but any meaningful kitchen overhaul should focus on making it more accommodating to home cooks.

Plan for prep stations
Whether the new kitchen plan includes a solid granite kitchen countertop or something more sleek and modern, home improvement enthusiasts should plan on adding specific food preparation areas too. Here is where individuals can get creative with the counter space and positioning. HGTV featured a range of kitchens geared towards home cooks. The more "traditional" kitchen had an extended countertop with a butcher block surface, which fairly screamed "home chef." If this is the route home remodelers wish to travel down, the end result will be a warm and cozy space, which can be a great place in which to gather family or friends.

For something more industrial, HGTV presented another project where the goal was to have extremely spacious counters. The design included frosted glass and steel kitchen countertops and cabinets which seemed perfect for the aspiring professional chef. With a more restaurant-like kitchen, whoever is responsible for cooking and baking in the home will certainly feel encouraged in his or her craft. As a bonus to a more industrial kitchen, include a large sink and kitchen faucet to collect all the dishes that will pile up. To get inspiration and guidance on kitchen fixtures and sinks, home remodelers should consult with professionals at a kitchen and bath showroom.

Home cooks may want to design a kitchen that fits their needs

Add an island
A kitchen island serves multiple purposes and makes for a great way for home cooks to include family and friends in their creative process – or just to show off!

For example, Ideal Home looked at the kitchens featured in the baking tents on the TV show "The Great British Bake Off," where home bakers compete against one another. The source admired the uses of the kitchen island. This functional and stylistic feature can include kitchen cabinets for storage – or, for more serious bakers, a warming drawer to assist in preparation.

Utilizing copper elements in a busy kitchen can also help it have a more rustic and inviting feel. This can range from a copper kitchen back splash to a copper sink, the source said, once again citing the staged kitchen areas on The Great British Bake Off. Either way, having plenty of kitchen cabinets might be beneficial for home cooks, who tend to have more equipment and pots and pans for the different, delicious dishes they whip up.

Designing a kitchen to be cooking-friendly is a great way to encourage people to spend more time together at home – eventually saving money and really utilizing a newly-remodeled space. By involving the household in making meals, everybody can have the chance to contribute, and maybe learn a thing or two from the home's head chef.

Bathroom renovation projects can sometimes only focus around the functional: how can a bigger sink fit in the room? Will a walk-in shower make sense? Is it time to opt for a low-flow toilet?
There are many creative aspects to renovating the bathroom; there is tile to pick, colour schemes to incorporate. And the primary user is also a consideration: Will this be a family bathroom, a guest bathroom or simply for the adults in the household?

Vanity adjustments
One unique element that can suit either a powder room or the home's main bathroom is a seated bathroom vanity. Not only will it be a unit of storage, but the piece of furniture can also be a pretty place to get ready in the morning: There will be ample room for someone to shave, or to fix up a complex hairdo and prepare for the day.

By placing bathroom cabinets under the vanity, home improvement enthusiasts add storage options and remove the need for a separate set of drawers for towels, additional toilet paper and other styling tools. Apartment Therapy highlights several options for this trend, which was more popular in the past.

Dual sinks
One of the featured homes has two bathroom sinks with a low counter and stool in the middle. Each person can use their own sink, and there is space in the middle for someone to get ready in the meantime. To match the rest of the house which is farmhouse style, the decorator used reclaimed wood under the sinks and marble on top.

Renovating the bathroom? There may be room for a seated vanity.

For more options on how to create a bathroom vanity with a seated option, it is a good idea to stop into a kitchen and bath showroom to ask for ideas and assistance.

Selecting the perfect seat
Another seated bathroom vanity featured in House Beautiful places a small, round stool between two sinks – it seems to be the easiest and most popular option for creating an extra space. The designer used different textures and materials to make the room pop, rather than adding a ton of colour. Both bathroom vanities are made from cast concrete with wood bathroom cabinets below. The stool is of a softer grey material and matches the sinks perfectly.

Finding the right stool for the seated bathroom vanity can bring the room together. Be sure to measure the counter height to ensure the stool is not too tall. Then, decide whether the seat should blend in or pop out. Picking a seat in a bolder colour can add a spark to a more muted room, whereas keeping a consistent colour palette can maintain a uniform feel to the space. However the room is decorated, a seated bathroom vanity can add a bit of uniqueness to the bathroom space.

Encouraging kids to cook is a great way to create excitement around food and preparation. This can help some picky eaters try new meals, but more importantly, it brings the family together in a different way.

A kitchen remodel should last at least 10 years, HGTV suggests, so that the space can grow with the family. Smaller children and infants will require entirely different arrangements than teenagers who may want to grab their own after-school snacks or take more of an interest in cooking. If older children join sports teams, you may find yourself buying water, sports drinks or snacks in huge bulk amounts. These items will need adequate kitchen cabinet space, which you may not have available with smaller children. The source suggests that before remodeling your kitchen, you should set tangible goals for the space and understand why you are making changes.

Accommodate changes in age
For younger children through teenage years, you might want to consider adding a kitchen island. While this kind of arrangement may not work when babies are in high chairs, as they grow up a little they will want space for art supplies, their own plates and cups and even snacks. No matter what age, however, the source suggests that you select kitchen counter surfaces that are easy to clean. HGTV suggests selecting laminate or quartz, which is better at absorbing shock than granite.

The advantages of openness
Traditional Home advises that you create an open floor plan between the kitchen and dining area. This merges two rooms together and creates the illusion of more space. If the kitchen is on the small side, family members can hang out in the dining room and enjoy proximity to the kitchen. Those with much larger kitchens may want to consider incorporating two islands. The first can be used for prep, storage and may even contain a kitchen sink, space permitting. The second island, meanwhile, may function as more of  a breakfast bar. People can socialize in the kitchen while meals are being prepared, friends and family can gather around the spot for appetizers, snacks and conversation, and the seating arrangement can give kids another area in which to do homework or school projects.

Storage is key in any family home kitchen. There should be enough room for plates, cups and saucers, but also space for kids’ art supplies and eating implements. One example on the House Beautiful website presented a kitchen with ample drawers for organisation and an armoire-style kitchen island with extra cabinets and drawers.

For kids of any age, a blackboard in the kitchen is a great way to make notes, display a menu, and create impermanent artwork. One home on House Beautiful’s website includes a blackboard wall underneath the breakfast bar, but you can add the surface anywhere. It might be handy to have a blackboard near the back door to write down quick notes or messages for individuals coming and going.
You will find more inspiration at a kitchen and bath showroom, and you can always ask professionals there for tips on the best kitchen sink and appliances for your home.

Vintage and retro home décor has been favoured for quite some time now. Many people have different definitions of what they consider to be "vintage," but looking for expert advice can often provide backstory for these ideas. When considering a bathroom renovation project, it may be rarer for people to consider decorating this room to have a vintage feel, especially when the colour in question is one some choose to remove. Yes, that pink-tiled bathroom is a hot retro shade that can be inspiration for chic bathroom décor.

The HGTV website highlights the classy, vintage feel of a pink tiled bathroom – they were often seen in homes from the 1940s and 1950s – explaining that they were "once quintessential in mid-century homes, and now there's a growing movement to save them." According to a design expert featured in this article, the shade was known as "Mamie Pink" or "First Lady Pink" as it was favoured by the First Lady Mamie Eisenhower and she used it in decorating the White House.

There are many ways to play up a pink tiled bathroom, and the source presents a range of images for some bathroom decor ideas. Adding black accents to contrast with the lighter pink tile makes for a pretty pattern. If you are installing tile yourself, you can speak  with a design professional to determine what kinds of tile are ideal, and where the black and pink patterns should go. According to the HGTV expert, pink tile is "timeless," so if you choose this bathroom décor route, it will last for years to come.

For more inspiration, one article from Apartment Therapy presented bathroom décor options. Adding different colours of paint to the walls can complement the tile well, and accents like plants or pictures will enable the room to feel complete. One couple chose to match the bathroom wall paint to the tub, and opted for a pastel grey shade. On the other hand, the source notes that blue and aqua shades complement the pink, and cited one example of a bathroom that had walls painted in that colour. The "interesting contrast makes visual sense," according to Apartment Therapy.

If you are adding tile to your bathroom especially in the shower area, the DIY Network website offers up some helpful tips. When the demolition is complete, first lay out and measure tile to be certain that it will fit the space properly. Then, when installing, be sure to use a starter board  – particularly with vertical tile – to ensure that the tile has a straight edge. Finish the shower floor last after the walls have been completed. Those who have a shower over their bathtub will likely not be tiling the tub, but there's always the option to find and select a new pink tub, to complement the pink bathroom tile.

Check out this pink MAAX tub sold at Kitchen and Bath Classics if you are hoping to stray from status quo.

Looking for more bathroom inspiration? Visit a Kitchen and Bath Classics showroom to take a look at fixtures, faucets, tubs and much more.

There are so many elements to select when embarking on a bathroom remodelling project. Probably the most important part is finding and embracing the right colour palette. For items like toilets and bathroom faucets, the colour selection can be limited, unless a gold toilet suits your taste! Otherwise, the limited colour choice can work to your advantage when tackling a bathroom remodelling project. You can use the paler tones in these bathroom fixtures to decorate the whole bathroom itself; there are a wide range of beautiful, neutral shades from which to choose.

Apartment Therapy highlighted a project by Paula E. Guzman studio where she and her design team renovated a bathroom in a New York City apartment. Challenges included working with a small bathroom space in a city apartment. To make it shine, and to make the bathroom feel more spacious, she opted for a neutral colour palette. Her finished bathroom presented some pretty and bright bathroom cabinet ideas, as well as simple, elegant fixtures befitting the smaller sink and space. Her bathroom was decorated in neutral tones, to highlight what she described as "unusual" colours in the floor tiling. She then selected the fixtures, bathroom cabinets, towels and bathroom sink to embrace the pattern and create what she described as a "shell" theme. The floor was also "busy," so she painted the walls a taupe-grey shade.

She chose to keep both the sink and the toilet white, but accented the space with unique bathroom curtains and a photograph taken by her boyfriend. Adding personal touches like this on the backdrop of a more neutral or calm bathroom can really make them stand out.

Better Homes & Gardens had additional advice for designing a bathroom in neutral shades. Using bathroom accessories to pop on a white, grey or beige colour scheme allows you to use your imagination and creativity. A bathroom that is not brightly coloured can be punctuated with a wide range of elements. For example, if your bathroom has large windows, the news provider suggests selecting "elegant floor-length drapes" to provide privacy.

For a more vintage, classy vibe, the news provider advises sticking to a simple black and white bathroom design scheme. These bathroom fixtures should have a shiny finish, which will make them sparkle against the calmer colour backdrop.

Some people think that neutral colours have a "cold" feel to them, especially if a bathroom has a tile floor and tile walls. Better Homes & Gardens advises this is not the case. Adding charcoal planks around the bathroom vanity and bathroom cabinets can warm up a space, in addition to – where possible – selecting "neutral paint colours with a warm undertone".

There are many shades of neutral colours available, ranging from pale and creamy whites to beige and even lighter blue colours. It can be fun to customize the bathroom space with outstanding, small elements that will pop against a calmer background. The shower curtain, for instance, does not have to be bold, nor do bathroom staples like rugs, bathroom cabinet doors, or even the floor itself. There is plenty of room for adding personal touches to decorate the walls, or even to bring in a plant or two which can balance out the softer background. However you choose to remodel your bathroom, it will certainly be a fun, satisfying project. Visit a Wolseley Canada Kitchen and Bath Classics showroom today to find some inspiration for a bathroom renovation project.

Showcasing a modern sink with a backsplash is a great way to make it the focal point of the kitchen. There are many different styles of backsplash available, ranging from shiny tile and metal to artwork painted on glass. Whether creating a backsplash is a do-it-yourself home kitchen improvement project or is professionally completed, the result will be the same: something that looks attractive, highlights the sink area and keeps the walls clean from water and food splashes.

DIY Network has several backsplash ideas ranging from simple to elaborate. All of these relatively inexpensive ideas are designed for at-home installation, and have the capability to compete with top designer kitchen ideas. Those who enjoy adding their own touches to a backsplash may want to consider a pegboard style. This is comprised of panels that are connected together and affixed to the wall. They can then be customized by adding hooks to display artwork or kitchen utensils. The result is clean and neat, and may be useful for those with smaller kitchens who want to free up counter space.

For a more vintage look, DIY Network suggests using old maps to create a backsplash. The maps are first attached to plywood that is cut to fit the area. The images are then sealed with shellac to remain waterproof and to add sheen.

BDivine has some other ideas for daring home decorators. Tiles are always elegant and can be a good project for artsy types. The source suggests using Arabesque tiles, which are larger and slightly more expensive. They can provide a "high-end feel," ideal for a smaller kitchen.

Find a backsplash style to suit your tastes.

Those looking for a more modern and industrial look can consider using copper as a backsplash. According to the source, copper is durable, "long-lasting, and easy to clean, and these qualities make it an ideal material" for a kitchen backsplash. "It is also antimicrobial, killing almost 100 per cent of bacteria that cause healthcare-related illnesses." Copper is a viable option for a kitchen backsplash, especially for those who prefer an extra clean home environment.

Prefer a more random pattern? BDivine advises using hexagonal tiles for a new backsplash. They fit together easily and can be arranged sequentially or punctuated with random dots of colour. This can add whimsy and visual interest to a kitchen that may otherwise be monochrome.

Finally, for those with an unlimited budget, marble is the most high-end of backsplash materials. It can stain easily, according to the news provider, which can dissuade some home decorators.
Working on a new kitchen backsplash can be a fun enterprise; a pop of colour, new tile or even something more innovative can make all the difference. Those who choose a backsplash to complement a sink or intricate faucet may create a true conversation piece. Making a kitchen upgrade is not an arduous task, and while the family might need to order takeout while work is in progress, the complete project will bring a little excitement to any home.